Sunday, July 10, 2011

WHEN I WAS DIAGNOSED

I was diagnosed back in 1997 I was in my late 30's. I had no idea what lupus was. I had a friend that had lupus and I automatically thought that I would be in the same shape she was, Let's just say she was in very shape but also had ra. So that was it I thought my life was over. Never expected to get that diagnoses. I was sick with a flu or virus for about two weeks so I decided to make an appointment with doc so I could get antibiotics to get better I was in bed about the whole two weeks and was so tired that I felt like I never slept at night. So anyway I was going to tell doc all the things I was going through. Honestly, I thought I was a hypochondriac. I was getting heart palpitations everyday it seemed to come during late afternoon. Always had sores in my mouth and my joints always hurt sometimes when I did too much I would hurt so bad I couldn't walk, and I always had a rash on my face when I was out to long little did I know all these were symptoms of lupus. I was never one that ran to doc for myself, but this time I said I was going to go and tell him everything. I did he listened and wrote it all down he sai could be either heart problems or connective tissue disease. I had no clue what that was went for all the testing and sure enough it was lupus. So anyway never think its all in your mind you could really have something serious. When I think back from when I was a child I had so many symptoms back then. I was always sick every summer I had fever throwing up my family used to make fun of me, my grandma used to take my long hair put it in braids and wrap it around my head and spent the summers in bed. then I used to always get sores in my mouth when I was little my grandma use to say I had a dirty stomach so she would wash my mouth out with milk of magnesia yes it helped, but that too is another sign of lupus. As a teenager I remember carrying my books and every so often my arms would give out and lose strength like I had no control over it, then in my 20's my dad use to tell me not to hang the clothes on the line in the freezing weather cause I was going to get arthritis. So when I moved to Florida and was working as a waitress my hands and arms were so so sore that I could not even drive to turn the wheel, so of course I just thought that was arthritis. No I must have been flaring big time. It was so bad once I could not get out of a chair and walk I literally gad to crawl it was so bad the pain that is. So going back to when I was diagnosed even though it felt like it was the end, it really was the beginning of a whole new way of life, because I never want to get to the point of not being able to walk or enjoy my family so I take very good care of myself and make sure I'm always listening to docs. You'd be surprised it can mean alot. Do lots of research and get lots of rest and eat right and learn your limitations let your" no mean no" Stress is also a very big factor so even though its hard not to stress try to do things to release the stress so you don't let it make you sick. Well I could keep going on but I'm tired now. talk to you soon

What is Lupus?

Lupus is a chronic, autoimmune disease that can damage any part of the body (skin, joints, and/or organs inside the body). Chronic means that the signs and symptoms tend to last longer than six weeks and often for many years. In lupus, something goes wrong with your immune system, which is the part of the body that fights off viruses, bacteria, and germs ("foreign invaders," like the flu). Normally our immune system produces proteins called antibodies that protect the body from these invaders. Autoimmune means your immune system cannot tell the difference between these foreign invaders and your body’s healthy tissues ("auto" means "self") and creates autoantibodies that attack and destroy healthy tissue. These autoantibodies cause inflammation, pain, and damage in various parts of the body.